Pond Eddy post office on the list

The U.S. Post Office in Pond Eddy is one of more than 3,000 across the country that is set for possible closure. When resident Jeanne Mulcahey and her friends heard it was under threat, they launched an effort to try to keep it open, which included a letter-writing campaign to Congressman Maurice Hinchey.

Other communities in Sullivan County that have taken steps to keep their post offices open include Kenoza Lake and North Branch.

The U.S. Post Office (USPS) announced in early November that it lost $5 billion dollars in the past year, in part because of increased use of the Internet and also because of the after effects of the great recession.

Public pressure from around the country, however, is having some effect. Last week, USPS issued a notice to all area postal vice presidents, directing them to temporarily suspend all Delivery Unit Optimization implementations and post office closings beginning November 19 through January 2, 2012.

While districts may proceed with the post office discontinuance process, the physical closing of a post office or the physical relocation of routes will be temporarily suspended during this window.